1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a toner image formed on an image bearing member is transferred to a recording medium to form an image, particularly to the image forming apparatus in which toner remaining on the image bearing member is removed by a blade member after the transfer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The image forming apparatus in which the image bearing member is rotated plural times at the time of the image formation is mainly used due to the recent colorization of the image forming apparatus. In this kind of image forming apparatus, a cleaning member removing the toner on the image bearing member is brought into contact with or separated from the image bearing member. The blade member is used as the cleaning member because a configuration of the blade member is simple.
In order to prevent abrasion of the blade member in removing the toner, it is necessary that the toner adheres moderately onto an edge of the blade. During the removal of the toner, a part of the toner to be removed remains on the edge to prevent the abrasion of the blade member.
However, sometimes the toner is separated from the edge by vibration associated with the contact and separation action of the blade member, which causes the edge to come into contact with the image bearing member while the toner does not sufficiently exist between the edge and the image bearing member. Therefore, there is a problem that the abrasion of the blade member is generated when the blade member comes into contact with the image bearing member.